At action they sell a Sweex Foldable Webcam for just 6 EURO. It’s a low-budget webcam with no extra’s, but it’s working with linux.
The specs:
- Interface: USB
- Chipset: Pixart 207
- Sensor: CMOS
- Maximum frame rate: 30 frames per second
- Focus: from 50 mm
- Colorfilter: RGB 24 and I420
- Resolution: maximum 640 x 480
- Supports: Windows 98SE, 2000, XP en Vista
Installation:
First of all, plug in the webcam and use the command ‘lsusb’ to find out the vendor and device id. In the example below the webcam is shown as: ‘Bus 003 Device 003: ID 093a:2460 Pixart Imaging, Inc.’
$ /usr/sbin/lsusb Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 003 Device 003: ID 093a:2460 Pixart Imaging, Inc. Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode) Bus 001 Device 005: ID 413c:2010 Dell Computer Corp. Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 001 Device 004: ID 413c:1003 Dell Computer Corp. Bus 001 Device 006: ID 045e:0083 Microsoft Corp. Basic Optical Mouse $ |
Next, we need to install a kernel module that enables the webcam in linux. The module needed for this device can be downloaded at http://mxhaard.free.fr/. It is called the “Generic Software Package for Camera Adapters”. The version I used is “gspcav1-20070508.tar.gz”. However, today a new version (gspcav1-20071214) is released. Anyway, download the package and untar it.
$ cd /tmp $ wget http://mxhaard.free.fr/spca50x/Download/gspcav1-20070508.tar.gz $ tar zxf gspcav1-20070508.tar.gz $ cd gspcav1-20070508 |
This version of gspcav1 needs to be edited before it actualy works. Edit the file ‘/tmp/gspcav1-20070508/Pixart/pac207.h’ and change line 137 from ‘if (id[0] != 0×27 || id[1] != 0×00)’ to ‘if (id[0] != 0×27 || id[1] != 0×08)’.
After making this important change, build the module using the command ‘gspca_build’. You’ll need root privileges.
# cd /tmp/gspcav1-20070508 # ./gspca_build REMOVE the old module if present CLEAN gspca source tree rm -r -f *.o decoder/.gspcadecoder.o.cmd decoder/*.o \ .gspca.o.cmd *.o *.ko *.mod.* .[a-z]* core *.i \ *.symvers *.err COMPILE gspca Please Wait ....!! INSTALL gspca in the kernel binary tree mkdir -p /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/usb/media/ rm -f /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/usb/media/spca5xx.ko rm -f /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/media/video/gspca.ko install -c -m 0644 gspca.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/usb/media/ /sbin/depmod -ae LOAD gspca in memory PRINT COMPILATION MESSAGES if ERRORS look kgspca.err make -C /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build SUBDIRS=/tmp/gspcav1-20070508 CC=cc modules make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/kernels/2.6.22.9-91.fc7-i686' CC [M] /tmp/gspcav1-20070508/gspca_core.o CC [M] /tmp/gspcav1-20070508/decoder/gspcadecoder.o LD [M] /tmp/gspcav1-20070508/gspca.o Building modules, stage 2. MODPOST 1 modules CC /tmp/gspcav1-20070508/gspca.mod.o LD [M] /tmp/gspcav1-20070508/gspca.ko make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/kernels/2.6.22.9-91.fc7-i686' # |
If all succeeds, you’ll end up with the following messages in ‘/var/log/messages’:
Dec 14 21:01:56 koko kernel: /tmp/gspcav1-20070508/gspca_core.c: USB GSPCA camera found. (PAC207) Dec 14 21:01:56 koko kernel: /tmp/gspcav1-20070508/gspca_core.c: [spca5xx_probe:4098] Camera type GBRG Dec 14 21:01:56 koko kernel: /tmp/gspcav1-20070508/gspca_core.c: [spca5xx_getcapability:1215] maxw 352 maxh 288 minw 160 minh 120 Dec 14 21:01:57 koko kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver gspca Dec 14 21:01:57 koko kernel: /tmp/gspcav1-20070508/gspca_core.c: gspca driver 01.00.18 registered |
Testing:
Now that all is setup, use tools like ‘ekiga’ or ‘xawtv’ to test the webcam.
